Voters in the Ikaroa Rawhiti electorate will be able to hear directly from their candidates at a Hawke's Bay Today Meet the Candidates debate in Flaxmere tonight.
The meeting, co-sponsored by NewstalkZB, will be held at Irongate School, Walton Way, in Flaxmere. Five of the six candidates - Meka Whaitiri of the Labour Party, the Maori Party's Marama Fox, Te Hamua Nikora of the Mana Party, the Green Party's Henare Kani and Independent candidate Cathryn Eden - have confirmed their attendance. The Expats candidate, Vicky Rose, will not attend.
Hawke's Bay Today editor Andrew Austin, who will moderate the debate, said he was hoping issues important to the community would be addressed. The doors open at 5.45pm and the debates start at 6pm.
Each candidate will give an opening address in which they will argue why they should be elected. Mr Austin will ask questions on behalf of Hawke's Bay Today readers and then each candidate will make a closing statement. Entry will be by gold coin, with proceeds going to the Hawke's Bay Breast Cancer Trust.
Straw polls will be conducted after candidates have spoken and results will be published in the paper the next day. A Meet the Napier Candidates meeting will be held at Napier Intermediate School on Tuesday.
